While Meta and X roll back LGBTQ+ protections, Freddie holds space

Ever dreamed of an exclusive digital space where you can find the community you are actually on the search for? Freddie: Your Queer Space, a dyke-centered phone application, was created just for that. 

In an effort to create a digital space that would only welcome members of the queer, sapphically-inclined and trans communities, queer couple Carmen Hernandez and Sarah Panzer, put their collective skills to work and launched Freddie. This app comes at a time when it feels unsafe to exist in many other realms of the internet and social media apps like X and Meta, which have both scaled back protections for LGBTQ+ people and rolled back their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. 

“The main goal for Freddie has always been to be that kind of third space that is unlike everything else we are experiencing right now on the internet,” said Hernandez in an interview with L.A. Blade. “There’s this fear that a lot of companies are using data security tools on social media platforms to track information about individuals.” 

Hernandez realized that they had a unique opportunity to create something vastly different than what already exists on the app market. They not only wanted to create this digital space exclusively for the queer community, but also make sure that the information shared on the app was not being sold to data collecting companies. 

According to the Federal Trade Commission, cookies and other data collection tools are meant to collect information from users such as interests, demographics and activity in order to ‘remember you.’ This means that user information is then sold to companies that collect and harvest that data to sell products and services to users through curated and personalized experiences. Research shows that this is a harmful practice because these curated and personalized experiences target users and make them vulnerable to scams and other dangers. 

This app is an oasis in a desiccated digital landscape. 

“We started thinking about how we could make Freddie really secure for the people that are there,” said Hernandez. 

Hernandez and Panzer wear many hats in order to make this app not only function, but also evolve over time to include more helpful features – like personals – which they recently launched in an effort to unite people with common interests, goals and plans. 

The ‘personals’ space is to post about their needs and find other like-minded community members who meet those needs. 

“We’re a small team and we want to make an app that people are going to be able to use really easily, that they want to use and that has all the right features,” said Panzer. “We wanted to make a space where lesbians, trans people and queer people could have a space away from the cis-male gaze to just be horny, look for love, and just be themselves.” 

Upon making a profile on Freddie, users are welcomed to choose up to six options for what they are looking for on the app. There are dozens of options – everything from music and book recs, to the meaning of life, and even options if you happen to be on the search for bottoms, tops and anything in between. 

In comparison to apps that are not for or by the queer community, Freddie also has an extensive list of options for gender and sexual orientation. 

Hernandez founded Freddie back in July of 2023, after they say they became exhausted with sifting through the other LGBTQ+ apps and realizing that there were a lot of issues with the interface and with people from outside of the community taking up space on the apps. 

According to Hernandez, not only were they taking up space, but also being openly homophobic in spaces specifically meant to gather people from QTBIPOC communities.  

“I started noticing that the people who were showing up, were sometimes not queer and then even worse yet, were straight and homophobic,” said Hernandez. “That all really got us thinking.”

This is when Hernandez decided to invest some of their own time, energy and financial resources to bring the concept of Freddie to fruition. Then, with the marketing help from their partner Panzer, they have now launched the newest and latest version of Freddie. 

This isn’t Freddie’s final form, according to the creative couple. 

Freddie will also soon have an even more exclusive membership option that operates like a digital club users can join in an effort to be a part of an even more exclusive space for the QTBIPOC communities. 

“We are going to turn Freddie into a club and that’s going to make it a lot easier for us to monitor who comes in and ensure that everyone who comes into that space is able to engage with the community in a respectful way,” said Hernandez.